Affleck Mum on Whether He’ll Marry J. Lo

Dec. 16, 2003 -- Ben Affleck may be trying to keep details of his relationship with pop and movie star Jennifer Lopez from the public eye since they called off their nuptials three months ago, but the actor maintained on Good Morning America today he and Lopez are still an item.

The two had reportedly planned to wed Sept. 14 in Santa Barbara, Calif. But days before the wedding, they announced they were postponing the nuptials because of unwanted publicity. Speculation was rampant, however, that cold feet may have played a role.

Affleck, interviewed by ABCNEWS' Diane Sawyer, called the decision to cancel the nuptials mutual, but would not say whether a wedding would be in their future.

"Jennifer Lopez and I are going to take our life at our own pace," he told Sawyer. "And we're going to make the decision that's right for us. And we're going to do it in a private way."

In any event, Affleck — who stars in the upcoming movie Paycheck — said he has no plans to have a televised wedding like The Bachelorette wedding extravaganza, and doesn't want every move he and Lopez make to be fodder for the media.

Media Mistakes

In the past, Affleck and Lopez, a highly photographed couple, may have been a little too accessible, he believes.

"I think we made a mistake, Jen and I. I think maybe because we were happy, having fun, enjoying our lives," Affleck told Sawyer. "I think we were too available. And we may not have been guarded enough, I don't know. But I think I'm probably not going to talk about whether or not I'm getting married on television," he said.

Affleck added he and Lopez are still together, and that their relationship changes, just like any other.

"Well, it's different every day, isn't it?" he said. Some days are bad and then … of course we're still together."

Affleck says he's aware that something could be at risk in deciding to wait.

"Sure … there are risks inherent in that and any decision, whatever way you go, there are risks inherent in that," Affleck said.

Dancing with Cameras

As to his movie career, Affleck is currently starring in Paycheck, a new science fiction thriller to be released Dec. 25, in which he plays a computer engineer who handles top secret projects.

Affleck said that the film's director John Woo had an unusual and interesting approach to shooting scenes that make actors more aware of where the camera is in relation to them.

"I've never worked with somebody who really sees movies as an extended choreography based on one long dance, and the dance is between the actors and the camera, " Affleck recalled. "Both are always moving and both are always moving in concert and with a kind of synchronicity intended to evoke a very specific reaction in the audience."

Added the actor: "I've never been so aware of, sort of, where the camera was relative to where I was. And from dramatic scenes or love scenes to action scenes, it's all the same. It's the dance itself that creates something in his mind."

In Paycheck, Affleck's character must unravel the mystery of his past, the only clues to which are held in an envelope. But what if the movie was real life, and Affleck had to put some essential items that remind him of real life in an envelope?

"I've done 200 interviews, and no one has asked that question. It's probably the best," Affleck said. "Probably some of (the items in the envelope) would be photographs of family and loved ones. It is essential, I think, to somebody's core self. I think that's part of the appeal of the movie, interestingly, is that it allows you to ask 'What if I could have all the things I needed?'" For Affleck, it's not what you take with you, but the people that you meet in your life. "It's not about the thing — the envelope that you use for yourself," he said. "It's about what you give to others."

And like his character in Paycheck, whose projects are so secret his memory must be erased afterward, Affleck says he has had some tough times of his own that he wouldn't mind erasing, although none were all that bad.

One low point was the movie Gigli, a highly publicized box office disappointment in which he co-starred with fiancée Lopez

"I've lived enough in my little time that there are some things that I've been through that are hard," Affleck commented. "And a lot of them, which were difficult then — you know, like Gigli bombing, or something like that — which is just a movie bombing. It's not the end of the world."